A traditional model railroad track segment consists of a pair of conductive rails held in a parallel spaced relationship by a plurality of tie members. In order to construct a model railroad layout, track segments are joined together by sliding opposing ends of adjacent rails into conductive rail joiners. The rail joiners consist of a generally rectangular piece of conductive sheet metal that has been crimped to provide a passageway about as wide as the flared bottom of a rail, and having a slot formed along the length of the passageway to accommodate sliding each rail into the joiner. The crimped sides of the joiner provide a compressive engagement with the bottom end portions of the respective rails so joined.
A common problem associated with constructing a traditional model railroad layout is that each joiner must provide good electrical contact with each rail in order to maintain series electrical connection among all of the rail segments in the layout. If the layout is altered from time to time, metal fatigue in the joiners can cause unreliable electrical contact with the rails. Poor contact between one rail and one joiner can render the entire layout inoperative.
Because the traditional track segments are relatively lightweight, and the joiners do not provide adequate resistance to flexing forces that are applied to the rails during assembly or operation, it is necessary to fasten the track segments to a rigid substrate, such as plywood, to prevent the joiners from becoming loose. The necessity for such attachment is discouraging to potential model railroading enthusiasts who lack the requisite storage space for a large layout, or who would not desire to construct a single permanent layout configuration. To address this problem, modular track segments have recently become available wherein rails are permanently attached to a rigid base, which is provided with connectors at each end for mechanically joining segments together to form a layout. Some of the commercially available modular track segments provide mechanical connection between adjacent rail segments, but rely upon traditional track joiners to provide electrical connection between adjacent rail segments.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,709,856 describes a modular track segment for an HO-scale model railroad, which provides mechanical and electrical connection between the rails of adjacent segments. Electrical connection is provided by pairs of spring wires extending from one end of a segment, which are configured to receive therebetween a conductive projection situated on an end of an adjoining segment, to provide a wiping contact between the spring wires and the conductive projection. Hence, the reliability of the electrical connection depends on the long-term elasticity of the spring wires, which may deteriorate over the course of repeated coupling and de-coupling.